You are either very interested in this website, or are totally lost.

If the latter,  go back to our main entrance at http://corregidor.org

Back to referring page

or return to GHQ index

 
Click to enlarge (CD ROM Only)

You can see more of JD's handiwork at http://www.flightsimdesign.com

28 Oct. 2003 

Major format and navigation changes to the Bless Em All Series (Heritage Bn. website), involving creation of a date based system running parallel with a quasi topic based system.

30 August 2003 

CD ROM package released

25 June 2003 

Photographs as taken from Japanese bodies on Corregidor are now featured in "Ghosts of Corregidor" and will be added to from time to time. The full size collections are courtesy "G Company Collection" and Paul Turley and are on the Membership CD-ROM.  A fresh Corregidor Historic Society logo is premiered.

25 June 2003 

Photographs as taken from Japanese bodies on Corregidor are now featured in "Ghosts of Corregidor" and will be added to from time to time. The full size collections are courtesy "G Company Collection" (Chet Nycum) and Paul Turley and are on the Membership CD-ROM.  A fresh Corregidor Historic Society logo is premiered.

31 March 2003

Major reworking of the CT&N layout and navigation. The prior format has been in use since April 2001.

26 Dec. 2003

31 May 2002

"WILD BILL'S MEMORIAL"  -  Tom Murphy dedicated a memorial to Major William Massello on 6 May, 2002 at a small ceremony at Battery Way.

30 March 2002

THE CORREGIDOR RAILWAY SYSTEM - Tony Feredo introduces us to the railway system of pre-war Corregidor.  

10 March 2002

THE LOWERING OF THE FLAG - Article by Val Gavito

20 October 2001

After considerable difficulty, late nights, exasperation and finally, achievement, we are now lodged at a commercial Internet Service Provider.  Hope this one works! 

BILOXI

September 2001

If everything goes according to plan, you are reading this off a CD-ROM.  It hasn't happened by accident. 

The purpose of the CD-ROM is to allow the website to be produced for people who do not have the internet, and to provide a more comprehensive reference source for those who do have internet access, but want permanent storage of the information.   Because CD-ROMs can contain vast amounts of data in a form which is more easily accessible than by the internet, and is not subject to the downloading times of the internet, the CD-ROM represents the best method to preserve the heritage of Corregidor.  

This CD-ROM, like the website,  is produced by one man.  I am not infallible, and wherever possible I have endeavored to have all information and articles which appear here on your screen subject of a peer review process.  My "board of review" includes Al McGrew, Don Abbott and John Lindgren, each of whom have been involved with the website almost from the moment of its inception.  Whereas I can make corrections easily to the website,  the CD-ROM version that you are presently running, ALPHA 01, cannot be so easily corrected.  If you feel there is an error, or a dead link, please don't hesitate to e-mail me at  [email protected] and I will make the corrections in the next version. 

This is a non-profit operation, and any funds received from the CD-ROM will be applied to continual improvement of the product. ( If anyone desires to make a donation, I think it should go via the 503d Association.)   

The errors in this product are mine.  I am not a professional writer, a graphic artist,  a layout editor, a code-hack, nor or a HTML designer, though I have done all of of these myself, and more.    I would like to call myself "503d historian" but for the moment  I still have a day job to go to, so please cut this lawyer a little slack.  

Paul F. Whitman

July-August 2001

The success of the website starts to move against it - the evil is Bandwidth - the volume of signal which has been sent by our ISP has gone up so significantly, we are now paying for hosting that was formerly free.  Initially, I reduce the size of the website by compressing the entirety of the graphic files, which makes the wesite visuals look "fuzzy." Whilst work on the site continues, it is very much behind the scenes, reducing features which consume bandwidth.   I decide to attempt to create a CD-ROM which will contain the entire website, with high definition graphic - a "graphic rich environment." 

The pace is increased when Tom Aring, from Dallas, agrees to assist with the process of producing corrected typed output from OCR yield. Thanks Tom. 

 A number of new articles are added. 

12 June 2001

Two articles are added to the Secret Corregidor index originating  from Sidney A. Burnett, who was a member of the U.S. Navy's  "Intercept Station “C”. The articles corregidor - the beginnings and CORREGIDOR WAS NOT ALL THAT GOOD are copyright  and appear here by arrangement of the copyright holder, the Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association,  with thanks to Graydon A. Lewis.

19 May 2001

As Commanding Officer of the 462nd,  Major Arlis Kline kept a copy of his Corregidor Orders packet, which is the basis of this major  jumpstation feature. Also included are several photos from his collection, including his 2001 visit to Corregidor.  BY ORDER OF MAJOR KLINE

19 May 2001

Two major articles on the one day - we're spoiling you!   The closer you get to the individual soldier doing the dirty work the closer you are to the truth in the war.  AN OUTLINE OF EVENTS AT WHEELER POINT ON 18 AND 19 FEBRUARY 1945  

11 May 2001

A change in tone, with the addition of an article about one of our brothers in the Rock Force, the Red Cross Field Director Weldon B. Hester - A Red Cross Man on Corregidor

4 May 2001

 We add a jumpstation which links to all the pages involving mail, e-mail, etc - it's called APO 

2 May 2001

Requiescat in Pace, Joe Conway, by Jim Mullaney.

1 May 2001

the presence of his absence - DUANE LARSON,  by Dolane Larson.  (updated Match 2003)

28 April 2001

In the hope of attracting the interest of a publisher, we present the first three chapters of Dr. Charles Bradford's manuscript COMBAT OVER CORREGIDOR.  

25 April 2001

Misc. updates of graphics;  CAPTAIN SAFFORD TESTIFIES  is added to the Secret Corregidor section. To what special branch of intelligence were the duties of the main station at Corregidor confined? Transcript of the Hart Enquiry, 29 April 1944, for serious history students only.  

21 April 2001

The 'new look' website is now open.   I expect that there will be the inevitable teething problems, dead links etc., but all in all, I think it's going to work out fine.  The basic problem with the old site was that it just 'grew' without much pre-planning, and the GHQ contents page just became so long, hardly anyone ever made it down to the bottom of the page.  We now have over 2000 files, stretched across over 130 folders!  We now have given the CT&N site the GHQ page, and the 503d PRCT Website now sports the Regimental Headquarters as its hub page. (Yes, Hortense, that's what RHQ stands for!)  

New features now include a new Communiqué page, which replaces the old vanilla version which was promising to cost us big dollars.  The best new feature is a Search Engine which you will find on the GHQ and RHQ pages.  Type in the word you want to search, and you will be directed to every page where it appears as text. 

Thanks are due to Bob Flynn whose support was able to make the new features 'happen.'  

16 April 2001

Additional photographs to the Down Memory Lane page. In the meantime, we're moving towards the roll-out of the new navigation pages for the website. 

8 April 2001

We roll out the remake of the entire navigation system of the 503d Website, along with updates of over thirty other pages. 

What's coming up? Three chapters of the forthcoming publication of COMBAT OVER CORREGIDOR.

21 March 2001

We add DOWN MEMORY LANE - the beginning of a series where we can display photographs sent in by 'troopers, their relatives and families.  

Behind the scenes, we start working on a remake of the entire navigation system of the 503d Website. 

21 March 2001

We add DOWN MEMORY LANE - the beginning of a series where we can display photographs sent in by 'troopers, their relatives and families.  

Behind the scenes, we start working on a remake of the entire navigation system of the 503d Website. 

11 March 2001

We add THE FALLEN to Don Abbott's comprehensive list of articles. It is the Honor Roll of all the casualties suffered by the 503d during WWII. You'll find it inside THE VIEW FROM HERE jump station. It's a magnificent historical resource, and I am very proud to be able to make it available. 

4 March 2001

Here's our third jump-station navigation banner, and it features all the articles of Don Abbott, who was an exec officer of "E" Co, 503d PRCT at the time of the Corregidor jump, and then Company Commander of "A" Co at the time of the Negros mission.   To start, click over the main title. The smaller titles will take you to the GHQ ,  the 503d index and back here. 

1 March 2001

Here's our second jump-station navigation banner, and it features the series of recollections by Chet Nycum of "G" Co, 503d PRCT. The articles follow him through the war. To start, click over the main title. The smaller titles will take you to the GHQ and the 503d index. 

25 Feb., 2001

This is the first of our new jump-station banners, which we are hoping will simplify finding articles of like nature.  It is just like a navigation bar, and clicking on the text will take you to the feature. The AA Index gathers together in one area our collection of Unit Histories of the Anti-Aircraft Batteries on Corregidor. 

10 December

Battery Histories are rare - as far as we can tell, not every Battery history managed to survive the prison camps, or the Hell Ships. Many of their authors died in captivity, and the knowledge just disappeared. Captain Starr, commanding Btty. "H", 60th C.A. (A.A.) wrote the Hartford history in Cabanatuan No. 1 POW Camp, and it was buried there.   BATTERY HISTORY OF BTRY "H" 60TH COAST ARTILLERY CORPS 

10 December

Here's a change of pace for the 503d folk - two pages attempting to record whatever information we can gather together about the Wartime Insigne of the 503d PRCT. They are, of course, The Rock Patch NOW and The Cat Patch NOW HEAR THIS! If you're from the 462nd or the 161st side of the family, I haven't forgotten about you - I just don't have the info yet, because you haven't sent it in to me yet. 

7 December

We haven't been doing enough for our USMC friends lately, so we've upgraded this article on the 4th Marines on Corregidor by adding new graphics and a series of photos courtesy Al McGrew. The photos are from Japanese sources, and picture the situation at Bottomside and adjacent the west entrance of Malinta immediately after the ceasefire.  The 4th Marines on Corregidor - The Siege and Capture of Corregidor. We also must put in a reminder to visit  David George's brilliant website at  CHINA MARINES. 

1 December

For our 503d PRCT brotherhood and friends, and with thanks to the private support from Bob Flynn, we have given our website provider more bandwidth problems by posting several new articles - compulsory reading! 

ON TO MINDORO - CHET  NYCUM

The next chapter in Chet's recollections of the war from the viewpoint of a PFC. This time, the seaborne invasion of Mindoro.

T H E   W A R D E N  - DON ABBOTT

The first in a series of pages about the 503d's C.O. relates how Col. Jones got the nickname "The Warden"

A VISIT WITH GEORGE JONES - JOHN LINDGREN

John Lindgren brings us the second in the series of pages on Col. Jones, and relates their final meeting, shortly before Jones' death. 

THE MOVE TO LEYTE  - CHET NYCUM

From Noemfoor to Leyte,  we continue Chet's private war. 

REMEMBERING MINDORO - DON ABBOTT

Recollections of the 503rd's Mindoro campaign

THE THREE WINDS OF DEATH COLUMN - JOHN REYNOLDS

For ten years, John Reynolds has written a column in THE STATIC LINE, and we are extracting items of permanent interest from it. 

25 November

Chet Nycum continues his recollections in his "My Private War" series. This chapter is the story of THE MOVE TO LEYTE. This series leaves out all the fancy strategy and military details and tells the story  through the eyes of a PFC.  

18 November

For the Airborne folk in our midst, we feature the November edition of the 503d PRCT COMMUNIQUE, edited by Bob Flynn. 

We want to build up a bank of stories on Colonel (later General) George Jones, and are seeking any articles and materials upon him, however short they might be.  Don Abbott again first rises to the challenge, and confesses that the Poelau Laut  was not as dry as THE WARDEN would want it.

Finally, Historian STEVEN AMBROSE is starting to research the PACIFIC WAR. We were worried for a moment there that WWII consisted only of the ETO. (Have you had deja vu before?) so we've written to remind him of The Siege of Corregidor and of the campaigns of the 503d PIR and 503d PRCT at Markham Valley, Noemfoor, Mindoro, and some  small island in Manila Bay.  (We got a response from one of his many staff members, the terms of which indicated "Don't e-mail us, we won't e-mail you."  

Richard Johnson has created a webpage with the photographs that his uncle took whilst stationed on Ft. Drum in 1936-1937. It is early days yet, and its Richard's first shot at a web-page, but he's gathered together over 50 photographs on 13 pages.  Visit him at  http://home.earthlink.net/~rjladylake/

8 November

From the Brisbane TRUTH Newspaper 23 July 1944.    

 7 November

There are so many facets to the Corregidor Story all of them will never be touched. We start with three FACETS

3 November

Slowed down for a while by a new Hard Disk. I wish the "In Tray" at the Office was as full as the "In Tray" at my website desk! 

REMEMBERING MINDORO Don Abbott relates the Mindoro Mission of the 503d PRCT. Another in our series of "off Corregidor" articles.  

Chet Nycum introduces how the 'G' Co. PHOTO COLLECTION came to be on the website. 

25 October

Discussion Point - OFFICER COUNTRY

14 October

Capt. Duane Whitlock's second article,  STATION C - CORREGIDOR AS I REMEMBER IT  is reprinted, recalling some of his memories of life in the Naval Intercept Tunnel (then known as TUNNEL AFFIRM) . 

10 October

Chris Stout writes of 503d D Co Trooper "Woody" - Pfc. Elwood H. Hearne, in a fine retrospective. 

6 October

We touch upon the recent passing of Andy Amaty in the TAPS page. Completion of the third and fourth phases of John Reynolds'  PARTIAL HISTORY OF THE 503d NEGROS MISSION and, with it,  a new article which he wrote based upon correspondence from Louis Aiken, concerning the view from "B" Co., 1st Bn, of the Negros Mission. The article is called NEGROS WAS NO PLAYGROUND

5 October

Fortunately for all of us, and posterity too,  Al McGrew has been at it again. He's located a dog-eared handwritten document which is the BATTERY HISTORY OF BTRY "F" (FLINT) 60TH COASTAL ARTILLERY CORPS  and he's been able to decipher most of it. Some may find its views controversial, as it  suggests that the surrender of Corregidor may have come to soon. The original author is unknown.  

30 Sept

Phase II of John Reynold's PARTIAL HISTORY OF THE 503d NEGROS MISSION is posted. 

28 Sept

We try to keep up with the other sites on the net that deal with Corregidor related topics, and one which you should have on your "MUST VISIT" list is David George's CHINA MARINES.  Withdrawn from Shanghai, and thrown into Corregidor as beach defence troops, the 4th Marines were a unit which was almost entirely under utilized on Corregidor, and the inability to integrate them into the defence effort is surely a valid ground of criticism, not of the 4th Marines themselves, but of the USAFFE. 

27 Sept

Our first article, now that I'm back from the 503rd PRCT Reunion, is a departure from our normal Corregidor path. We have decided to publish all articles concerning the Combat Team, and our initial feature is John Reynold's PARTIAL HISTORY OF THE 503d NEGROS MISSION  .  John's article will appear over several parts, and the first three web pages start with the Author's Introduction. 

26 Aug

When we were compiling the battery history of BATTERY "I", 59TH COAST ARTILLERY in preparation for posting on the website as the latest in our series of battery histories,  a very special  thing happened. Read the article first, then visit the Mail Page and read the story of Aubrey L. Collins.

26 Aug

We link with http://www.enemyhands.com which is marketing the video "In the Hands of the Enemy: America Surrenders an Army" - For those who are looking for a teaching aid to explain to the children of America what the sacrifice of freedom really means. Freedom isn't free.  The distributors promise to pay $10 from each video sold to a nominated charity.  I pick the schoolchildren on Corregidor as my charity. Write to me if you buy the video. 

19 Aug

We have been wanting to read Al McGrew's book ever since we heard he had written it.  He is, after all, one of the few remaining living treasures of Corregidor.  Sent to Corregidor, he endured the siege,  the surrender, the 92nd Garage confinement, the march to Bilibid Prison, Cabanatuan III POW Camp, Pasay School POW Camp, the Nichols Field Labor Camp, a hell-ship transfer to Japan, Omori POW Camp, slave labor on the smelters, and the B-29 Raids. Here is a teaser from his book (as yet unnamed) CORREGIDOR 1941.

19 Aug

When Verne White wrote his autobiography, it was intended for publication only  within his family circle. However, when we pressed him as to the path which brought him to Corregidor,  he graciously agreed to share it with us. Visit THE BASIC TRAINEE. 

We publish  THE B.T.CAVE as a separate page.  

11 Aug

For the collectors, we are starting a series of pages featuring rare and unusual artifacts from Corregidor's past. You're encouraged to contribute to the ARTIFACTS PAGES .

SPELUNKING CORREGIDOR features short articles about some of the underground attractions of our favorite Rock.

4 Aug

Courtesy of Al McGrew, we have an addition to our Battery Histories Collection - this time, it's Captain Paul Cornwall's WAR HISTORY OF BATTERY "D", 60TH CA (AA). 

For the 'troopers we feature some of Larry Browne's  reflections on  D Coy Surgeon,  Charlie "Doc" Bradford.  

29 July

Added Spicer, Manning, Gulsvick, Thomas and Handlon pages to the KIA project.  Visit them through the CASUALTY LIST. 

22 July

Added Lindsay, Lovenguth, Bracklein, Brady, Turinski, Lee, Redfield, Segobia and Redding pages to the KIA project.  Otherwise, I've been slack.  

30 June - 14 July

Chet Nycum has sent a whole series of photographs which we're using to illustrate his (and other) articles.  We collected them in an at-a-glance Chet's Jumpstation  and now feature a sequence-show of 53 photographs with their own commentaries. Chet explains that the collection,  comprising photographs taken by Mike Levack and himself, has been waiting for some way to be available to members of G Company. Thus, he considers it to be 'G' COY'S PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTION '  and not his own.  When you travel through the sequence of photographs you'll find an individual commentary from Chet about each photo.   

8 July

MY PRIVATE WAR - OUR JUMP ON NOEMFOOR

"Each soldier sees and remembers his own war.  I am proud to have served with the men of the 503d PRCT.  Being  fresh from the farm, and one of lowest in rank,  no one had any reason to inform me of where I was going or what I could expect when I got there, even though our purpose was quite clear.    It's now 58 years  later and my memories remain vivid. Through this article I hope to meet again  some of the members of G Company, particularly  the third platoon second scout and the BAR gunner, if you're still with us.  This is my war as I remember it, the one that still invades my dreams." - Chet Nycum

Chet Nycum contributes this fine article which, whilst not about Corregidor, relates the traumatic experience of war on a human scale. The article was first published on the internet by Patrick O'Donnell's The Drop Zone. 

19 June

Chet Nycum has contributed the first three chapters of his "What did you do in the war, Daddy" reminiscences, and damn proud of it we are to publish it , too!  How I Remember It is not about Corregidor at this point, though the eagerly awaited later chapters are heading there. I have thoroughly enjoyed bringing this to you, and want to encourage more  'troopers to blow the dust off those books you always said you'd write about the army, but never did publish.  Chet's manuscript is illustrated from his extensive photographic collection. We're also working on some further articles he's written, and we're thrilled to have him as a contributor. 

George Munson contributes his second article,  A Short History of the 91st Coastal Artillery (Philippine Scouts). This unit, generally under US leadership, was comprised of Filipinos would earn a well-deserved reputation for bravery, dependability, willingness to work and complete professionalism. 

More updates of  503RD MAIL CALL of the CASUALTY LIST and of the TAPS page. Plus new general mail from the MAILBAG.

19 June

We register on the internet under the domain name
http://503rd.corregidor.org

What does this mean? All will soon be revealed (as soon as I understand it myself!)

12 June

The number of Filipinos who are Corregidoros is very small, given the role it played in their history. Tony Feredo is one of the few, and he takes us along for his recent  Visit to a Nearby Island.  (Part 1)( Part 2)

9 June

In November 1993, two 503rd veterans had lunch at the Harvard Club. On the death of Dr. Bradford, John Lindgren contributes this moving vignette. An Afternoon with Charlie Bradford

6 June

Something happened in the ETO in 1944 on this day, but our attentions are entirely in the Pacific so we don't worry much about that, never you mind!  

1 June

We begin a new personal adventure in web creation. Well, this site, anyhow!  Our 503rd Jumpstation/Portal becomes the official entry to a site which we shall maintain in partnership with and to the purposes of the 503rd PARACHUTE REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM ASSOCIATION, WORLD WAR II, INC.  I've been allowed to be one of the crowd!

30 May

In line with our efforts to bring you the best Corregidor information on the net within ready access, Joe Glockner, Bob Comer and CT/N have arranged internal links between websites.  Bob was stationed with the U.S. Naval Security Group in the Philippines and took the SARKIES Tour in 1970. Now you too can visit Corregidor in 1970, and be home direct to GHQ for beer call.  His pages contain links back direct to the GHQ, so you can ride the time machine with confidence. 

28 May

We found some dead links, so have re-edited the Bill Delich Page, The History Behind the History of Taps, and The Last Battery "H" Bugler pages.  We've also added a challenge to those folk who want to be better informed about the role of Corregidor in the Silent War, which we've named the Cryptic Crypto page. (Please, if you find some dead links, tell us!) 

27 May

The abandonment of Ft. Wint , situated on Grande Island Subic Bay, was one of the major errors of the defence of Manila Bay. George Munson has written A Short History of Fort Wint.   

21 May

More 503RD MAIL CALL

 14 May

Kenneth L. Hess, like many students at Stanton, developed his own home page in 1996. Unlike them, his father was a member of the 503rd on Corregidor. This article traces how Richard Hess got to Corregidor, and how he left it.  By Ken's permission we present  My Father's Memoirs - Richard Morton Hess

13 May

Members of the 503rd Association are invited to the private showing of a series of Corregidor photos. If you haven't already received your e-mail invitation, contact me.  (The page will be open later to all Corregidoros when comments have been reviewed and the bugs ironed out.) 

7 May

Al McGrew has been busy knitting us a few more of those spectacular slides of his, this time including our website's first views of Ft. Hughes (Caballo Island).  So we have added a number of fresh pages to  Skinny's Views.  We've been busy elsewhere,  trying to get our computer back together. 

28 April

Chernobyl Virus strikes our computer, and wipes out the partition table on C: drive.  Though the website is backed up, we lose e-mail addresses and need to spend a few days weeks re-working the programs on the computer. 

23 April

In January 2000,  we formed a group of heavyweights (see the photos!) and had two weeks on Corregidor.  Al McGrew kept the diary, but he's not telling, so I wrote this report.  In the tradition of "holiday snaps", only the brave should proceed further. 2000th Composite Group (H) Report.

16 April

Nothing to do with James Jones or the movie.

8-9 April 2000

THE MAP ROOM  is added as the culmination of an intense project to bring copies of all maps on the site into a single jump station.   Particularly worthwhile for the serious students of Corregidor is the set of 1921 Ft. Mills battery maps. Some are huge, and the best detail you'll ever find in a month of Sundays!

We've also given the 503rd Jump Station a new visual look and the 503rd pages  a fresh set of graphics to make navigation easier. The new look includes a renaming of the 503rd site with a new logo. Hope you like it, 'troopers!

1 April 2000

Verne White, a 503rd Paratrooper visited us and graced us with a chapter from his family memoir, which we've called VERNE WHITE RECALLS. It tells of his war, and leads us to his wounding on Corregidor.

In his article, Verne told us that he was involved in a fight along the South Shore Road when they came under fire from Japanese defenders hidden in a cave there. During the action, he saw fleetingly that there were trucks parked inside the cave.  I named the cave the BT Cave, for "Big Truck Cave", and it was soon asked of me whether the Big referred to the Trucks or to the Cave. Well, it was on for young and old from that point as the e-mails flew thick and fast.  The article is both amusing and seriously informative, reflecting the e-mails. It is also trivial, and perhaps for that reason, very entertaining. Is there (still) a large tunnel in Crockett Ravine, either with or without trucks? Who knows? But see Big Truck Tunnel  anyway.  We welcome Verne, and hope he becomes a regular.

15 March 2000

503RD MAIL CALL is added. It contains correspondence with a 'trooper viewpoint.

12 March 2000

DESERTION in the face of the Enemy.  Not everyone was a hero.   Text contributed by Al McGrew.

BATTLE OF MANILA #25 Contribution by one of our readers

We're invited to join the WORLD WAR II WEBSITE ASSOCIATION

4 March 2000

THE HOME FRONT - Selma Harrison Calmes M.D.'s second article on Corregidor before the War.

4 March 2000

Eric Sprengle has compiled a picture of the bravery and heroism involved in the reactivation of Battery Way by members of "E" Battery of the 60th C.A. (AA) under the command of  Major William "Wild Bill" Massello .  We've still got more materials up our sleeve about Btty Way, so   we'll be adding to this page in the near future.  Eric, who has supplied other materials recently (on Paul Bunker's lowering of the flag over Topside) is a bright new addition to our growing list of contributors and we welcome him on station.

4 March 2000

We are phasing out the old Topside series of seven pages, and replacing it with a series of  at least seventeen (for now)  pages of large format photographs. Most of these have been acquired from Fred Hill's collection. These are all large scans of beautiful photographs from large format Air Corps cameras, and even though spectacular on the internet, they can't do justice to the excellence of the photographic prints - so we've arranged the details of how you can order original prints.    The Operation Topside also has an OP TOP JUMP STATION where all of the series can be seen on the one page.

27 February 2000

Fresh back from the Rock, we publish the first  TWO of a series of Battery Histories which we acquired from Al McGrew's collection. First published is the diary of Lt. Col. E. L. Barr who commanded Battery "M" of the 60th Coast Artillery (AA). Battery "M" occupied the area of the island east of Malinta Hill, including Watertower Hill and Lindley Field.  The second is Battery "E" of the 60th Coast Artillery (AA), and their Unit History follows them through their Bataan campaign and evacuation, and their being thrown into action manning Battery Way.

20 February 2000

A change of pace. Selma Harrison Calmes M.D. contributes an article about Corregidor from the viewpoint of her family. Before WW2, it was an idyllic place for the Army families who lived there. This is the pictorial story of the other, Lost Corregidor, from the point of view of the Harrison family.  She's also working on some other articles for us, notably on on aspects of life on Corregidor, and on mineplanting. The articles are profusely illustrated, so be patient and reap the benefits.

5 February 2000

The site moves to a Brisbane based web server, and re-opens as the official publication of the CORREGIDOR HISTORIC SOCIETY.

1 January 2000

No longer "a raggedy-ass group of enthusiasts but not by a long shot historians of Corregidor".  No, now  we're  a formal group of raggedy-ass enthusiasts but not by a long shot historians of Corregidor which we shall hereinafter refer to as the

"CORREGIDOR HISTORICAL SOCIETY"

26 December

Fort Drum page is posted. Corrections are invited.

4 December

During the re-working of the positive and negative views of Mac, now conjoined on the new MacArthur on Corregidor page, I unfortunately lost the page on "He left, but from where", which is a shame because it created such controversy.  It also made a very valid point, which was that the history books were wrong. If anyone kept a *.html, or a printout of it, please send it to me and I'll repost it.  Meanwhile, there's the new Mac page to be seen, and the 'answer' to the controversy. Go to it!

23 November

Round Table, which has been suffering from a bunch of dead links, is re-edited and re-posted, and now back in action. Twenty-one pages of interesting and unusual photographs of Corregidor, many shown for the first time from private collections,  can now be seen full size, or in a thumb-nail summary JUMP STATION.

22 November

We've re-edited and re-posted John Lindgren's contributions. Patsy's Log,  Lindgren's Diary 1986 and Night at Wheeler Point

15 November

We've re-engineered the article Corregidor - The Lean Years and reloaded it with some of Richard Marin's hauntingly beautiful photographs of the Malinta Tunnel.  The article tells how the Malinta Tunnel was built virtually on a shoestring budget with convicted murderers and condemned TNT. This article should amaze the budding civil engineers, civil libertarians, and the fortress aficionados amongst us, and isn't without a sly humour either.

12 November

After problems with completing the move to the MSN pages (family problems, don't ask!) I've decided to re-load some of the series that haven't been working right.  The first series to be re-engineered is the The Battle of Manila series, which presents twenty-four pages of views of Manila, before, during and immediately after the Battle of Manila.  The summary of the series can be found on the The Battle of Manila Jump Station which contains thumbnails and direct links to the individual pages.

9 November

By permission of the photographer, Richard Marin, we feature the foreward from his newly released book, War of Our Fathers

The Study Web awards us an Academic Excellence Award and lists us as an educational resource for students on its website. CORREGIDOR finally makes it beyond the 'travel', 'photos of my holiday' and 'hotel reservation' style pages on to the educational side of the internet!

6 October

Two pages featuring the text from IMPACT, the AAF's Confidential Picture History publication are added. The text is "as published" and not necessarily accurate.

The Return To The Rock
Recapture of Corregidor

5 October

Jim Mullaney, a 503rd Veteran, presents a story that took 50 years in the making.  Visit "The Letter".

4 October

John Lindgren's 1986 Diary contains some wonderful details of his visit.

We start an ambitious project, the CASUALTY LIST, which aims to list all those 503rd killed in action, together with what is known of their circumstances. 

3 October

Contrary to certain books, there never was a Battle of Morrison Hill. The Controversy should end here. The Surrender of Battery Chicago

27 September

A further 4 pages added to Skinny's views, starting at Page 11.

A further 5 pages added to the Battle of Manila scrapbook, starting at Page 11.

26 September

We may be having problems migrating to our new server, but I'm still working behind the scenes. The problems will show themselves as "dead links".  Am I the only one in the world who is interested in both Corregidor and the internet?

We're again honored to host another article by Don Abbott who writes about The attack by "E" Company on Battery Monja at Wheeler Point.  He illustrates what can only be described as the stupidity (my word, not his) of the Army in preventing the troops in the field from having access to good maps, and the repercussions that this decision had on the men who had to fight and die for lack of information which might have readily been available to them. The story is illustrated with the maps that should have been provided. This is the history that should have been put in the history books.

We add two articles by Charles Bogart who writes about the importance that Subic Bay and Fort Wint had to the defence of Manila and how their abandonment without a fight brought the disaster at Bataan and Corregidor ahead by a matter of months.  In his second article, he examines Fort Frank on Carabao Island and explains its importance to the 1941-42 campaign.

We add a few more pages to the Operation Topside series - Pages 6 and 7.

10 September

A departure from Corregidor. In researching Corregidor, it's difficult not to come across a lot of extraordinary photographs of Manila.  The Battle of Manila, or even its aftermath,  is worth a website all by itself.  In surfing the web, I haven't found a site dedicated to the Battle of Manila, so the field is open!  Every Corregidoros has spent some time in Manila on R&R and so we've included a new series on Battle of Manila Scrapbook. This series will highlight Manila before, during and after the battle. Some of the photos were  my father's souvenirs which I filched from his footlocker.  Go to the series via the jump station.

The other day, we got an e-mail asking why there are so many Dog Tags found on Corregidor. The answer leads Al McGraw, our irrepressible contributing Defender, to recall the Story of the Staff Sgt.  Another "Skinny" gem!

9 September

Don Abbott takes us on a Sentimental Journey when he relates the story of how the 50th anniversary of the 503rd's combat drop on Corregidor was celebrated by a major tour of Corregidor and Negros.  Even though President Ramos' joke was possibly the oldest one in the paratrooper lexicon, I bet everyone still laughed, Don. Perhaps it was the way he told it!  Six photos of the reunion trip are included.

We gather all the photographs in the Historic Corregidor series into a jump station.

31 August

Battery Ramsey page added to the Battery Series

29 August

We put all of the photographs in the TRIVIA QUIZ- ROUND TABLE series in a single page, which we call a "Jump Station". From that one page, you can now preview the visuals for 21 pages, and jump to the pages out of sequence.   

We start on a new series called "SKINNY'S VIEWS" which has a series of aerial photographs taken by our Defender, Al McGrew. Some of the most spectacular photos available from the post-war period, prior to the Corregidor Foundation taking over the island. Presently there are 10 pages in the series. All the thumbnails are collected at Skinny's Jump Station, which will allow the photos to be viewed out of their sequence.

22 August

After a long series of difficulties, we're (hopefully) together again with our new web host, with a total access to storage space of 42 megabytes. There'll be a few problems still, I'm sure.

New to the site is The Best Warrior I Ever Knew, an article written for us by Bill Calhoun,  who was Lloyd McCarter's CO, and who was one of the two Officers who recommended him for the Congressional Medal of Honor.  The article tells us who the man was, and why his actions on the night of the action came as little surprise to those who knew him. John Lindgren has assisted in helping me secure the article, as Bill isn't  'wired'.

20 August

The first of the 1937 Corps of Engineers maps was posted. The website stoops to shameless advertising.

8 August

The Anti-Aircraft Defence Command Page - a comprehensive report which details the history of the anti-aircraft efforts on Corregidor, this article is Annex F from the Moore Report

The Engineer Annex to the Moore Report explains the works done on the island in anticipation of, and during the seige. It's Annex E

We have re-designed our Battery Control Page to make it easier to use as a hub.

Battery C 91st Coast Artillery Captain Gulick, commanding Battery C-91st (Cebu), was amongst the eight men wounded when a muzzle burst from a defective AA round killed four. He survived Bataan, to be captured with the garrison on Corregidor. His history of CEBU brings us an insight into the Bataan campaign. The article was submitted to us by George Munson.  

1 August

We transfer the first 12 megabytes of the website from GeoCities into the Empire of the Rising Bill (Gates) - MSN Homepages.

26 July

The "What's New" page makes its first appearance. No link, you're there already!

We've added a 503rd jump station to the GHQ which will link to an index page containing the major links to articles of interest involving the 503rd Parachute Regiment Combat Team. The full-size photo which is on the jump-button is now at Round Table Page 20.  It's of "E" Company of the 503rd, in front of the 59th Coast Artillery Barracks on Topside. The Photo was scanned and contributed by Don Abbott.  

20 July

Bill Delich was one of the defenders of Corregidor, was imprisoned in Cabanatuan III, and survived a 'Hell Ship' transportation.   He was a regular and widely loved visitor to Corregidor, his last visit being in April of this year.  He died on July 8 1999. His long time friend,  Al McGrew, has written a short eulogy.  Bill Delich - In Memoriam

18 July, 1999

THE MOORE REPORT - This report, part of the WAINWRIGHT REPORT, reproduced here in four parts, is the report of Major General George F. Moore as commanding general of the Philippine Coast Artillery Command. It presents as complete an historical record of the conduct of the defence of Corregidor as you'll find on the internet. Annexes and exhibits will be added as the project continues.

The Three Power Alliance and a U.S.-Japanese War (How Japan Plans To Win) This translated Japanese article was written pre-war, and explains in detail Japan's strategy in the forthcoming Pacific War.  Articles factually presenting the Japanese view of the invasion and  occupation of Corregidor are invited.